Burn The Witch – Review

The creator of Bleach takes readers in a new direction in his one shot, Burn The Witch, published in this week’s Weekly Shonen Jump. Taking place in London, protagonist Noel is a witch that protects what’s called Reverse London from deadly entities called Dragons alongside her partner, Nini Spangle. They see everything differently, even their approach to combating Dragons but while out on an assignment, they receive a different mission to exterminate a Dragon located where Noel is from. One-shots typically are released prior to serialization if the interest is made clear by audiences and I hope this title gets the green light. Not only because I deeply enjoy anything to do with witches but also because the story is genuinely interesting. The chemistry between Noel and Nini could really undergo serious character development and the battles to exterminate Dragons could grow even more visually appealing once more weapons and characters are introduced. Hopefully if this does launch a new series, the women stay as lead characters because Bargo literally was the worst part of the one-shot to me. His constant need to see Noel’s underwear is such a huge dive into the typical anime tropes that it overshadows the heartfelt words he says later regarding an old friend. It’s also made apparent from the ending that Bargo would definitely be a main character if serialization is made but ideally he would have as much time, (or much less), as he had in this one-shot. Action, fantasy, comedy, witches, and dragons collide in Burn The Witch even a large nod to Bleach’s Soul Society. I sincerely hope this is not the end of Noel and Nini’s story but if so, it’s a great quick read for fans of fantasy and Bleach.